Coin sorting toy bank



nite. rates atei s253347 'Cons SoRTiNG roYBANK Francis Marsa-Dalton, 'Mass Application Denier 13, '1954, senat Ne. 414,924 "rc1-aim. (icl. '13s-s) This invention relates Vto improvements in a coin sorting toy bank land has for one o'f its major objects, besides the recreation providedby all toys, to provide also scientic educati-onto lthe useryoung'and old-by arousing his curiosi-tyas to the mode ofoperation of the device and by stimulating 'hirslobservation and analysis of its principles. For thislatterpurpose, the major parts of the device are made of ya'transparentplastic material.

Although'in its lsimple and inexpensive form, intended for wide distribution and educa-tional utility, the toy bank of the present invention isrdesigned for only three kinds of coins, namely nickles, dimes and quarters, yet in the light of the'explanrations given below, its extension to a greater varietyof'coins'inmore expensive forms will be `evident to those skilledin the'art. l

Fig. lis a perspective view of the bank, and Fig. 2 a partial cross section of it made by ay plane passing through the line 2f-'2' ofFig. Vlnfa'nd normal to' the axis of operation of the device, while Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3`of Fig.'2 and showing a coin pocket in the principal coinfsortingrmember of the'device. Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show in section the situationsof vvarious kinds of coins on Atheir way to their respective destinations.

In all of the ligures the same part is identied by the same numeral for V'easev o'f reference.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 1 and v2 jointly, 8 is a coin to be deposited in bank 9 having Va transparent shell 10, through which three coin bins 18, 2i? and 22 may be seen at the bottom of the bank, with partitions 19 and v21. The shell 1G of the bank will be seen to be semie'cylindrica'l at'the top and enclosing a rotatablevdrumipivotedat-IZ andhavin'ga coin pocket 14. In the operative position Yofthe "bank shown in Figs. 1 and 2, 'the baiiksready to receive a coin, 4and this position is referred to hereafter as the normal position of the bank. In this position, the coin pocket 14 is aligned with slot 13 in the shell to permit the insertion of a coin 8 through the slot 13 into the coin pocket 14. This alignment is rendered positive by means of a counterweight 17 tending to rotate the drum countreclockwise (Fig. 2), and a pawl-like detent or stop member 15' engaging a ridge 16 on the drum (Fig. 2) at this exact position.

It may be observed in both gures (l and 2) that in this normal position of the bank, the coin pocket points with its open end generally upward, though not vertical but suiciently olf the vertical to provide leverage enough for the lightest coin inserted in the coin pocket to cause the drum to rotate clockwise. In the course of this rotation, the drum carries the coin pocket downward and also rotates it, so that eventually the coin pocket is turned upside 4down to permit the coin to drop out into one of the three bins 18, 2t) and 22, provided under the drum. How the three kinds of coins are selectively dispensed into their respective bins will be explained after some further structural details of the device involved in this process are described.

Inspection of Fig. 2 will reveal that in the coin pocket 14 there is a shallow recess 14a in the lower wall of the ICC pocket, formingA a low step 14h near the open end 'ofthe pocket. The pocket 14 is large enough to accept a quarter dollar 'withoutletting it project out of the pocket; while the recess is just alittle too small to take the quarter, ,though it is large enough to take a nickle, and of course a dime-one at a time. So when a quarter dollar" is placed in the coinpocket, it rides over the step 14b as illustrated by the shaded sectional View of'Fig. 6 where coin 8a will be seen as riding on the step 14h. A coi'n smaller than a quarter,however, will drop into recess 14a vand get caughtbehind the wall of step 14a, as illustrated by the shaded sectional views of Figs. 4 and 5 The 'operation of thebank to deliver a coin selectively to its appropriate bin will now be explained coin by coin.

Processing of the quarter dollar When a quarter dollar Sa (Fig. 6) is inserted in the coin pocket in the normal position of the bank illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the drum rotates clockwise, and in about a 60 degree rotation, the coingpocket has become approximately horizontal as illustrated by the shaded sectional view of Fig. 6. As therquarter rides on the step b and is unobstructed by it, when the coin pocket dips below the horizontal and slants downward, the coin begins Vto slide out. By the time the coin pocket has gone far enough to be aligned with the partition l19 between the bins 13 and 2t), a portion of the coin will be projecting out of the pocket,'as illustrated by coin 8a, in the unshaded dot-and-dash view of'Fig. 6 and will be ar-restedv'by this partition, thereby becoming forced to drop into bin 1S. When the coin is thus discharged and the drum is relieved from the pressure of the coin, the counterweight 17 returns the drum back to the normal-loading-position Processing of vthe ,dime

When a dime Sb (Fig. 5) is loaded into the coin pocket, it drops into the recess 14a. The drum rotates as before, but when the coin pocket is slanting downward, the dime, having been caught behind the step 1415, cannot slide out as the quarter does, 'so the drum, and with it the coin pocket, rotate farther,'approachin`g :the position in which the coin pocket is pointing 'directly downward. Even in this position the dime cannot just slide out smoothly, as illustrated bythe shaded sectional View of Fig. 5. However, in this position, the supporting of the coin by the shallow step 14b becomes very insecure -and the coin may slip out of the step and fall out. if it does not, the rotation continues further, land the coin becomes still more insecure on the narrow steplib; and by the time the coin pocket reaches the partition 21, the dime has either fallen into the bin 29, as illustrated by the unshaded dot-and-dash View of Fig. 5, or else it is projecting out far enough to be arrested by this partition and forced to fall into the bin 20. The wall of step 14h should not be higher than the thickness of the dime, and preferably less. The angle of the wall of the step also has a bearing on the ease or diiculty with which the dime will drop out in the zone assigned to it. If the plane of the wall of step 14h is so oriented that in the upside-down position of the pocket it slants downward a little, the coin will slip out easier and therefore sooner.

As a penny has about the same dimensions and weight as the dime, compared with the nickle and the quarter, the step 14h is preferably adjusted to operate equally well with either coin, so that the more aluent patrons of the bank may play banking with dimes, the less aiiiuent ones with pennies.

Processing of the nickel Being substantially smaller than the quarter, the nickel also drops into the recess 14a, just as the dime, and is rotated to the upside-down position without dropping out. So far as being supported by the step 14b is concerned, thevnickelis a little more insecurethan the dime,

but now another factor carries the nickel beyond partition 2,1 into bin 22 without mishap, as follows.

through theY same vertical distance,; onermight properly expect that Veach coin will have Vdeveloped the Vsaine velocity at the same stage of rotation, based `'onGalileos principle that light and heavy Yobjects fallito the earthin` the same time, with the sanierspeed. j This would be true fortthecoins if the;entire'potential'energy recover'edtin the fall were available' tof accelerate Vthe coins alone.

sed up ,toprovide the necessary potential energy. to raise the'counterweight 17, Vand another substantiallpart is used v up toprovide the necessary` kineticY energyvin acceleratingY thel'drm and its counterweight. f These lossesconstitte a very much larger fraction of the total recovered potential energy ofthe dimethan'of the nickel, and therefore at the 'bottoni of theV are of travel, the rotational velocity of. the diinerisrrelativelyV slow, while that of the nickel is relatively very fast.

a transparent case with a coin slot near the. top and a e removable base plate, three coin binsrin a Vline arranged s inside ofisaid case above said base plate with partitions between each pair of adjacent bins, a coin processing member rotatable around a horizontal axis and positioned e ,inside said case and above said bins, said coin processing member having a coin pocket and being'adapted to rotate under the'weight of a dimefinsaid pocket, said pocket having a normal loading position'rpointing generally iup;

This higher speedY ofV the nickel Vdelaystherelease` of` s thercoin from step 14hV as follows. VThe relatively strong` centrifugal force of the coin presses the coin against the Wall of the step, and assisted by friction, it holdslthe coin there against theV gravitational force even `when the coinV has passed the position at which the slow'moving dimeY drops out readily. As'the coin is now moving upwardand'therefore'its velocity is diminishing,Y and the component of the gravitational force Vpulling the coin out of the step is increasing, after the coin has passedthe` partition 21, the coin drops out of the step into the bin 22.'`

When loaded manually coinbycoin, Vno coin sorting device saves labor, but when the coins are fed to the coinV ward with the' upper end thereof open `to permit a coin,V i Y to drop out when in the course of thesrotationof said'V membersaid, pocket is turned generally upside down,

Part of thisVV energy Vis lost in'frictiOn, a substantial partis Y means to cause a coinin said pocket to drop out selectively"Y into Ythe bin preassigned for said coin, said mea'insfinclucl-` ing as a major element a coin diameter discriminative means comprising a shallow recess in said pocket forming a step near the open end of said pocket,rsaid recess being largeY enough to'take Ya nickel butsnot a quarter, so. that aquarterlinserted in said' pocket rides on said stepfV aV smaller coin jdrops into Ysaid recess vandis held back Y, byrsai'l stepthus permittinga Yquarter to `slidej'ou't to thebin preassigned for it when Ysaid pocket in the course of said rotation slopes downward ,while a coinY in .said recess 'would `be checked VbyV said` stepgfor later release said coin pocket and'thercoin therein are traveling down ward,{and a'substantial momentjofrinertia possessed by said YmemberV and said` ,counterweigh said Vmoment of Y inertia andthe weightof said counterweight beingradapted sortei mechanically, the device becomes a labor-saving"- machine too. So if desired for industrial use, the present device or an appropriate modification thereof may be combined withra mechanical coin feeding device, various forms of which vare'knownin the art. The principles'of the invention together'` withV` the construction, mode of operation and use of an embodiment thereof most pre-V I ferred at this time having been explained in such full, Y

clear, concise, and exact terms Aas to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use thersame, various modiications'thereoftwithin the f spirit of theinvention willv occursto those skilled in Vthe tions in lthe appended claim. IV claim: Y t A scientific educational art; and I therefore intend to include Vall such modificatoy Ybank for dimes, nickelsi and quarter dollars, having in cooperative combination,"

-Y to :cause sufficiently largerrredauction Yin the yrotational Y speed developed by said rotatable member ,Whenlo'aded e with a dime than when loaded fwith a nickel, to provide c suicient time `for a dime to drop into theiirst ,availableV bin when said pocket is generally upsider down,VV and toY provide suicient speedY for a nickel toV be rotatably carried s farther to drop` into a farther bin, said counterweiglzit'also` f cooperating witha detentiattaclied to saidV case Vto engage, Y arridge on'saidmeinber to return said member to a loading position, aligning said operi end of saidV pockettwith fat coin slot in said case' Whenever said pocketis empty of a coin. s f Y Y s l Y 'l References Cited inthe jile of this patenrti e v A f VVUNITED,STATESPA'LENTS v i 780,270 j gitarren Jan.; 17,1905V I 1,493,098 Bolton May 6,1924V a 1,799,785 VDmmeuan, Y; Apr.7,193i Y 1,813,296Y Y Kidweii .l Juiy 7, 1931L 

